Our History

The Heart of Borneo Project is a young organisation, founded and run by a young team, full of energy, passion, and ideas.

Foundation

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The Project has grown from an idea that its founder, Martin Holland, decided to pursue in 2009. The idea was a simple one: to bring students of different disciplines together into one team to design and carry out an expedition into a threatened, and unstudied area of rainforest. A key element of the idea was the combination of science and the media, which reamins a fundamental principle of the Project today.

More than 400 people applied to take part in the expedition, eventually called the Murung Raya Expedition after the district of Central Kalimantan it would work in, and it was this level of interest that inspired Martin to throw everything he had behind the idea. A large team was formed and put to work, with Martin as Expedition Leader and Manager, and Tim van Berkel as Lead Scientist sacrificing everything to build more than an expedition, but a platform for professional growth, educational activities, and awareness raising.

The effort of everyone involved was rewarded with awards, funding and plaudits. The Royal Geographical Society awarded them the prestigious Neville Shulman Challenge Award, while the ZSL, WWF, Explorers Club many others also provided support. BBC presenter and Explorer Dr george McGavin called the expedition 'the best prepared he had ever seen'.

One of the original principles of the expedition was to establish an ongoing effort in the chosen research area, and after over a year of research, planning and fundraising this intention was formalised with the founding and registration as a charity of the Heart of Borneo Project, in 2010.

The Murung Raya Expedition

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The expedition was a great success, producing fantastic scientific results and generating interest from institutions and the media around the world. The team safely spent 8 weeks researching one of the most remote and biodiverse areas of rainforest on earth, having navigated the innumerable funding, bureaucratic, and logistical challenges to get there.

Alongside the scientific research we used satellite technology to create an interactive expedition allowing schools, youth groups and people from around the world to follow our progress in real time through videos, galleries and blogs which were created in the field and uploaded onto our website.

This innovative approach set us apart, and gave us the opportunity to take part in the first live video link of its kind with audiences in the Natural History Museums new Attenborough Studio, and live Q&A sessions on the Guardian newspapers website. The expedition has since been named the Expedition of the Year by Explorer Magazine.

Future of the HoBP

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The Heart of Borneo Project is now focused on establishing a permanent research station at the site of our last expedition. This will be used to pursue our own research objectives (biodiversity mapping, climate change, rainforest ecology, canopy research, anthropological studies and sustainability in remote communities), while allowing us to host independent researchers and university field trips as described above.

We are also developing a community empowerment program, which will include participatory mapping, environmental and sustainability programs, income diversification, guide training, and eco-tourism.